Barletta: I don’t want to see unaccompanied minors in Hazleton

U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta talks about the children border crisis that may impact Hazleton in the future during a press conference held Monday at the CAN DO Renaissance Center in Hazleton. ERIC CONOVER/Staff Photographer

ERIC CONOVER/ TIMES-SHAMROCK U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta talks about the border crisis during a press conference held Monday at the CAN DO Renaissance Center in Hazleton.

U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta wants to set the record straight: he does not want to see unaccompanied minors settling here in Hazleton.

Barletta, R-Hazleton, is baffled how coverage of his press conference on Monday had some people thinking that he was in favor of such action by the federal government.

“I’m doing everything in my power to stop it and that is why I brought it to light,” Barletta said Tuesday after hearing from local leaders and residents who are opposed to the idea.

“I think its a bad idea,” Barletta said. “I am going down to the United States-Mexican border to try to get some answers to some questions I have about the issue.”

Barletta said Monday that the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants was targeting the former MinSec and CEC corrections facility in the Altamont building on West Broad Street — right across the street from Barletta’s Hazleton office — for relocation of a number of minors ages 12 to 17 who have been streaming across the border from Mexico and Central America.

Not much is known about the 65,000 young people who have traveled from places such as Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

President Barack Obama has said repeatedly that the refugees will be sent back to their homes.

“Our school system can’t handle it, our city can’t handle it and our social agencies and health systems are strained to the limit,” Barletta noted.

It isn’t a case of not wanting to help children in this position but how can we help them at this point with limited resources available, Barletta said.

Barletta has received feedback from local leaders on the issue.

“I talked to Hazleton Area School District Superintendent Frank Antonelli and Hazleton police Chief Frank DeAndrea, who doesn’t believe it is a good idea and, in fact, he thanked me for bringing it to the public’s attention,” Barletta said.

State Rep. Tarah Toohil, R-Butler Township, and United Way President and CEO Pat Ward sent letters to Barletta expressing their concerns about the welfare of the children, but also saying it would not be a good idea for Hazleton to house them.

Barletta is also concerned about medical screenings for the children due to some reports of children testing positive for swine flu, measles, scabies and tuberculosis. Some border patrol guards have tested positive for some of those illnesses, Barletta said.

“Why are we not stopping this from happening?” Barletta asked, saying the government must suspend foreign aid to Mexico and the countries dropping off children at the border.

Stacie Blake, director of government and community relations for the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, said children have been coming over the border for years but the number has increased in recent years.

In 2012, 14,000 children crossed the border. As of the end of June, the figure has increased to between 35,000 and 40,000, Blake said.

Blake confirmed the Altamont building in Hazleton was one of the buildings her organization is considering but she said the committee is not targeting any particular area.

Blake’s group works closely with the Office of Refugee Resettlement and that they look for certain criteria that must be met.

“We do not operate any shelters,” Blake said. “We want to make sure it is appropriate and safe for the children. ”

Blake explained that many of the children can stay in this country until their cases are ready in court.

“Our number one goal is protection, a safe place for a child,” she said.

Some will be able to wait while some will be deported, Blake said.

“We are looking at all kinds of locations on the East Coast,” Blake said.

“They should not send these minors anywhere, let alone Hazleton,” Barletta said. “There is enough strain on this community.”

tragan@standardspeaker.com, 570-455-3636

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